Week 63: Roe Deer ('Capreolus capreolus')

The Roe Deer was @SpeciesofUK from 2^nd to 8^th June, 2014.

The roe deer is a native UK deer species that nearly become extinct here in the eighteenth century.[1] They are known for their distinctive three-tined antlers.

Roe Deer
[Flickr Creative Commons © Don Sutherland]

Week 59: Pipistrelle bats ('Pipistrellus')

Pipistrelle Bats were @SpeciesofUK from 21^st to 27^th April, 2014.

The pipistrelles are the UK’s most widespread and abundant, and also our smallest, bats.[1]

Common Pipistrelle
[Flickr Creative Commons © Gilles San Martin]

Week 39: Wood Mouse (‘Apodemus sylvaticus’)

The Wood Mouse was @SpeciesofUK from 21^st to 27^th October, 2013.

The wood mouse is a rodent from the Muridae family (mice, rats and gerbils). Muridae is the largest mammal family in the world, containing over 700 species.[1]

Wood Mouse
[Flickr Creative Commons © Isfugl]

The wood mouse can be found across Europe from Iceland to Ukraine. It's also native to the northern coast of Africa in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.[2] 

Week 32: Bottlenose Dolphin (‘Tursiops truncatus’)

The bottlenose dolphin was @SpeciesofUK from 14^th to 31^st August, 2013.

Bottlenose dolphins are one of the most widespread mammals in the world. They can be found in every ocean, with the exception of polar waters.[1]

There are two species of bottlenose dolphin, the ‘common’ bottlenose and the ‘the Indo-Pacific’ bottlenose. The common bottlenose dolphin is native to the UK and is the subject of this blog.[2]

Bottlenose Dolphin
[Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Javier Corbo]

Week 26: European Mole (‘Talpa europaea’)

The European mole was @SpeciesofUK from 23^rd to 29^th June, 2013.

Moles are subterranean burrowing species of mammals. The European mole is one of nine mole species in the genus Talpa, all of which are found in Europe or western Asia.[1]

A Mole
[Source: Wikimedia Commons © Mousse]

Moles are found throughout Britain wherever there is deep enough well-drained topsoil. They aren't dependent on sunlight and so can be active day or night throughout the year.[2]

Week 15: Grey Squirrel (Scuridae Carolinensis)

The grey squirrel was @SpeciesofUK from 10^th to 16^th March 2013.

Grey squirrels (or Eastern Grey Squirrels to give them their full name) are part of the family Scuridae which contains circa 285 squirrel species in total. The only other Scuridae species found in the UK is the red squirrel.

Grey Squirrel
[Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Dean Thorpe]

Grey squirrels are not UK natives. They were introduced to the UK from the USA in the late 1800s. They’ve been rampantly successful, out-competing native red squirrels and driving them into ever smaller outposts.[1]

Week 9: Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus)

The mountain hare was @SpeciesofUK from 27^th January to 2^nd February 2013.

The mountain hare, ‘Lepus timidus,’ is found from eastern Siberia to Norway. There are isolated pockets elsewhere, including in Scotland in the UK, the Alps, Ireland, the Baltics, Poland and, remarkably, the island of Hokkaido in Japan.

Mountain Hare, Scotland
[Source: Andrew Easton]

The mountain hare is also known as the blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare and alpine hare. (Just don't mix the mountain hare up with the arctic hare! That's a native of Canada/Greenland and a different species altogether.) 

Week 3: Eurasian Beaver (Castor Fiber)

The Eurasian Beaver was @SpeciesofUK from 16th to 22nd December 2012.

There are two species of beavers: the North American Beaver and the Eurasian Beaver. Eurasian beavers are sightly the larger of the two species, and have narrower muzzles and tails.  North American Beavers tend to build larger dams on bigger rivers.

By 1900, Eurasian beavers had been hunted near to extinction, with just 1,200 individuals left. Now, they are widespread from the UK to China and Mongolia.¹

The Eurasian beaver is the world's second largest rodent after the capybara. Unusually for mammals, female beavers are (slightly) larger than males.²